A number of techniques are available for treating cardiovascular disease such as cardiovascular by-pass surgery, coronary angioplasty, laser angioplasty and atherectomy. These techniques are generally applied to by-pass or open lesions in coronary vessels to restore and increase blood flow to the heart muscle. In some patients, the number of lesions are so great, or the location so remote in the patient vasculature that restoring blood flow to the heart muscle is difficult. Percutaneous myocardial revascularization (PMR) has been developed as an alternative to these techniques which are directed at by-passing or removing lesions.
Heart muscle may be classified as healthy, hibernating and "dead". Dead tissue is not dead but is scarred, not contracting, and no longer capable of contracting even if it were supplied adequately with blood. Hibernating tissue is not contracting muscle tissue but is capable of contracting, should it be adequately re-supplied with blood. PMR is performed by boring channels directly into the myocardium of the heart.
PMR was inspired in part by observations that reptilian hearts muscle is supplied primarily by blood perfusing directly from within heart chambers to the heart muscle. This contrasts with the human heart, which is supplied by coronary vessels receiving blood from the aorta. Positive results have been demonstrated in some human patients receiving PMR treatments. These results are believed to be caused in part by blood flowing from within a heart chamber through patent channels formed by PMR to the myocardial tissue. Suitable PMR channels have been burned by laser, cut by mechanical means, and burned by radio frequency current devices. Increased blood flow to the myocardium is also believed to be caused in part by the healing response to wound formation. Specifically, the formation of new blood vessels is believed to occur in response to the newly created wound.
What remains to be provided are improved methods and devices for increasing blood perfusion to the myocardial tissue. What remains to be provided are methods and devices for increasing blood flow to myocardial tissue through controlled formation of channel patterns in the myocardium.